Collide
by emeraldteardrops
Summary: Fic for Firestar9mm. Sage/Mia. Not fluffy. Rating is borderline. Summary: Sometimes the past lives on, even if only in our minds. ON HOLD.


A/N I wrote this for Firestar9mm, who loves Sage/Mia romance as much as I do. Of course, true to my style, I can't ever just write fluff. This storyline has grown way beyond what I had intended so it will have to be posted in parts. Sorry about that. I played around with a slightly different style than normal, and this is definitely self indulgently dark and bittersweet. Here it is (in part) as I promised, friend. :)

**Collide**

_"When I was fourteen I __wanted to__ be__ a __hero. When I was fifteen, I __just wanted to be fourteen again."_

_-Sage Date_

* * *

Mia woke sleepily to the sound of running water. It was a pleasant sound, kind of like lying in bed and listening to the rain outside. Only the sun shining through the partially curtained windows told that there would be no rain today, and staying in bed all day wasn't an available option. But Mia couldn't help it if she woke slowly and she stayed cuddled under the blankets, the soft sound of water in her ears. A cold drip of wetness on her nose woke her back up. Mia's head jerked back from the second drop, looking up at Sage in sleepy indignation. All she could see were glistening rock hard abs. Hmmm…

"Time to get up, Mia," Sage told her with a soft smile. He playfully slipped out of reach, leaving her hand flapping in the air where his stomach had been only moments before.

"No fair," she murmured. "Come back."

"Get up," Sage repeated, his voice more firm. "We have places to be this morning," he reminded her as he pulled on a pair of dark slacks and buttoned them. Sage rubbed the towel through his hair before draping it over his bare shoulder.

"Uhhngh," was the best reply that Mia could think of. The sound of the door closing gently meant that she was now alone to do as she wished. What she wished was to be right where she was. Snuggling deeper Mia let her eyes closed. So of course the door opened back up. Mia promptly ducked beneath her covers. Maybe he wouldn't see her…

"Mia, come on," Sage said, his deep voice sounding slightly put out. "We're going to be late if you don't get up soon." The bed creaked as weight settled next to her, pulling at the covers.

"Sorry, Mia's not home. Come back later," came her muffled and tired voice. Sage chuckled despite himself, and he uncovered one of her shoulders.

"You're worse than Rowen to wake up," the blonde man murmured as he lightly kissed the bared skin. Mia shifted but his hands had slipped beneath the blankets, finding more of her.

"Is this how you used to wake him?" Mia laughed as she found herself alternately being tickled and kissed into wakefulness.

"Brat," Sage muttered, nipping at her earlobe. Her laughter rippled through the covers, which now half of Sage was beneath. Mia kept her morning breathed mouth away from his, but she did trail her hands down his still bare chest. He shifted his heavier weight over hers, mouth moving down her throat.

"We're still going to be late…" Sage didn't sound like he cared quite as much as before. Mia decided that if she was going to have to wake up, she should at least do it with style.It was almost an hour later when they finally rushed from the bedroom, Sage hurriedly tucking in his shirt as he bounded down the stairs.

"Breakfast?" he called over his shoulder to the woman that stumbled after him, balancing on one foot as she tried to fasten her strappy heel to her ankle.

"No time!" Mia shook her head, fighting with the second shoe. "Oh no, we are going to be so late…" she moaned. Sage just rolled his eyes as he hopped into the driver's seat.

"Now she says…"

* * *

For twenty two years of her life, Mia had caught herself every time she had started to fall. The first time she had hit bottom with no one to pull her back up, it had opened her child's eyes and taught her that she only had herself to depend on. By the time the child had become a young woman, living beneath the roof of a brilliant man that only half the time realized that she was there, she had learned to only stumble. The adult that she had become never missed a step. Maybe that was why it had been so hard letting Sage into her life, because the man added a factor of instability that even now she was uncomfortable with. Passion and planning never went well together, and she would never have expected a man such as him to love so fiercely, or so desperately. It scared her sometimes. But she had never felt safer than when she was in his arms.

And she _loved_ the sight of him in a towel in the morning.

* * *

He watched her the entire morning as she politely greeted each of his grandfather's many guests. Somehow she had managed to fall into the car a frazzled and partially clad mess, and step out a sleek and polished beauty. Mia was currently talking to one of his grandfather's most valued and wealthy business partners, and the elderly man seemed entranced by her. Sage caught her eye and gave her a barely perceptible smile. Her nod back was just the slightest lift of her chin, never skipping a beat when someone she didn't know joined her and her companion. Sage carefully schooled his face in appropriate gravity, but inwardly his heart soared.

"She has become a constant presence in your life, has she not?" a deep gravelly voice murmured near Sage. The blonde looked at his grandfather sharply, wondering if this was one of his many trick questions. The old man had an ability to glean more than he should have from the smallest admittances. Then Sage bowed his head respectfully.

"She has always been. I have only recently learned to appreciate it more." There. Let him chew on that for awhile.

"And her family?" the head of the Date clan asked, his meaning clear and distasteful to his grandson.

"Gone. There is nothing there for you to judge her by, Grandfather," Sage said simply, causing the older man to raise an eyebrow.

"A clan is strengthened by the ties it makes," he was reminded.

"The Date clan is in need of strengthening?" Sage inquired politely, watching the slight tightening of his grandfather's mouth. No response came. Feeling as if he had won this round, Sage excused himself and approached the red headed woman. He would marry whomever he damn well pleased. Sage had decided that years ago, when he had first been encouraged to marry a girl chosen for him by his clan. In anything else he would be dutiful, but not in this. Not when it came to his personal happiness. The life that he had led had proved to him that he needed to take what pleasure he could from it, because you never knew what was around the bend.

Sage never saw the smile that touched the old man's eyes as he watched his grandson walk away, and Sage never knew that even a hardened old man could be softened by seeing the way Sage looked at her. All Sage saw was Mia.

* * *

There are things even heroes don't talk about. We might have been the good guys, but our lives were still consumed by fury and hate. Fury at the enemy for the evilness they spread into our world, hatred because of those lost in the battles. Furious fighting to save our own lives, hatred at those that sought the lives of our friends. Fury that we were chosen to give our lives without our consent, hatred at ourselves for being so selfish. Fury. Hate. It consumed us. It kept us alive. And we embraced it because we had to. It guided my sword across through every foe, it blinded my eyes to the destruction I caused, it hardened my heart to every life I took. Yeah, we were the good guys. But not everything in armor is a nether spirit, they don't bleed, and we ended the war with blood on our weapons. Blood on our hands. We don't talk about it. We try not to think about it. But it's always there, inside us, the knowledge of what we were. What we could be again if we had to be. If we chose to be. That was the only difference between us and the enemy. We didn't choose to be filled with fury, to be consumed by hate. We just…were.

Of course we don't talk about it.

* * *

It was cold where she was. Utterly unbearably cold. She couldn't move, and she couldn't feel. She struggled against her tomb of ice, and it melted against her skin. Still locked in a prison, but the feeling in her skin was coming back, the nerves screaming in pain. It was dark where she was, and she could hear the world passing by her. Was she a stone destined to never move again? Could her mind handle the fear, the pure raw panic of knowing that there was nothing that she could do? There was nothing at all she could do. She couldn't save herself. She was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to…oh god, don't let her die like this. Locked in this stasis and locked in her mind, she begged and screamed and realized that she couldn't save herself. She didn't want to die alone…she had spent her life alone, oh please she didn't want to die alone. And the pain was too much. She broke.

Mia jerked upright in bed with a strangled shriek, violently throwing herself sideways off the bed. Sage reacted instantly, going from a dead sleep to being completely awake and ready to fight, the way only those who have slept in fear can do. He reached for the wildly flailing woman, forcing her beneath him, covering her protectively as he faced the room. None one was there but them. The thought registered just as Mia's cries rose in panic, her fist flying out in all directions. Sage grunted as he took a thump to the jaw before managing to pin her arms to her sides.

"Mia, it's okay," Sage said roughly. "Wake up!" Mia trembled and fought him, eyes open but unfocused. Another shriek escaped her throat, on the edge of hysteria. Sage slapped her hard in the face, causing Mia's head to rock back and her eyes to widen and focus from the pain. Sage held her close, murmuring comfortingly.

"You're okay. Shush, it was just a nightmare."

"Sage, let me go," Mia croaked in a raw voice. He looked at her uncertainly, but Mia's hands had found his chest and were starting to push. "Let me up."

"Mia…"

"Let me go, Sage!" Mia snapped, shoving at him so hard that Sage fell back in surprise. Mia stumbled to her feet, grabbing for the blanket to wrap around her naked body. Her skin was pale and beads of sweat lined her forehead. Sage watched her warily from his position on the floor. Mia had begun to pace in circles, rubbing her face with her hands. Sage slowly rose and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm okay, you don't have to keep looking at me like that," Mia finally said in a harsh voice. Sage's eyes widened then narrowed at her abrupt tone. Still he tried for diplomacy.

"You had another bad nightmare, Mia. It's normal to be unsettled…" he started, but she cut him off with a breathy laugh.

"It's normal. Yeah, Sage, it's really normal." He hated sarcasm, and she knew it. But right now Mia wasn't concentrating on keeping him happy.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he tried again, starting to become frustrated but trying desperately to keep it in check.

"No," the beautiful redhead shot at him, as if it were a foolish idea. She wouldn't look at him. "Not in the least."

Sage said nothing, lips in a thin line. Silently he rose and pulled on a pair of sweats before leaving the room. Mia exhaled in relief and slumped to the bed when he left. She hated how he looked at her when these things happened. It seemed like almost every night something like this occurred, although why now of all times, she had no idea. In that wonderful and awful time after they had defeated Talpa, when her new friends battled their mental demons constantly day and night, she had been the one to soothe and calm frazzled nerves. She had helped them slip back into pseudo-normalcy, as normal as they would ever get to be. She had held Sage as he cried into her lap, wracked with frustration and guilt after New York. She had comforted Cye as he struggled to understand his inner battle with his own armor, a foreign being that had become as integral to their existence as lungs. She had promised Rowen that there was nothing more he could have done to stop Suzunagi and that his comrades, even Cye, were going to be okay. Life had moved on.

Except that for her it hadn't. Some part of Mia was still in that waterfall, dying alone, and there was nothing she could do about it even years afterwards. And she despised the look on Sage's face when he saw her weakly struggling with her memories. She hated being pitied, she didn't need pity, and she couldn't bear how those intense violet eyes seemed to see right through her. The blonde was hard enough to read as it was, and if there was anyone who refused to be weak or allowed weakness in others, it was Sage. These nightmares were humiliating, and considering the source of her panic and the closeness her lover had to that single life changing situation, Mia sure as heck wasn't going to be telling him about them. So she remained silent as Sage returned to the bedroom, pressing a glass of water into her hand.

"Thanks," she murmured in a more normal tone now. Sage sat down near her, nodding and folding one leg beneath him.

"How do you feel?" he asked quietly, eyeing her intently. Mia sighed and set the partially empty glass on the nightstand. How did she feel? Like a freak. Like a silly emotional fool who suddenly couldn't deal with something that she had thought she'd dealt with years ago.

"I'm fine, Sage," she lied, giving him a weak smile. "Can we just go back to bed?"

He didn't look convinced, but then again he never was when he knew she was keeping something from him. Still, he laid down quietly next to her in the darkness, her back against his chest and his hand resting on her hip. Mia eventually fell asleep but violet eyes stayed open, watching the darkness, in case there was something there that he just kept missing.

* * *

At some unknown point in their lives, demons and battles had been replaced by poker games and backyard barbeques. They still had to wage fights of epic proportions, but those involved whether or not everyone's girlfriends or wives would agree to the bloody action movie, or how to get Cye's little girl to eat her peas, or could someone please convince Ryo that no he shouldn't be performing karaoke? There were simple discussions of their daily worries and hopes, instead of serious discussions upon which the world hung in the balance. If there was some tiny part of them that wished a return of the glory days and of being heroes, that part always gave beneath the stark relief they still felt that five young boys managed to save everything that they held dear. Barbeques are better than dead friends.

Poker however, had never been Sage's strong suit. They were in Ryo's house, listening to him snore on the couch out in the living room while they played. It wasn't going so well for the warrior of Halo.

"You look like you swallowed a bug," Kento told Sage with a smirk as he shuffled the deck of cards. "Come on, it's not that bad. At least we have Ryo's gutturals to keep us in good spirits!"

"Says the man that now holds the entire contents of my wallet," Sage grumbled back, causing the table to laugh. Cye gave Sage a sympathetic look, ignoring the others.

"I'm doing just as badly," Cye murmured. "Only I can less afford it than you."

"That's what you say," Rowen countered, watching Kento deal a new hand. "Cye'll be walking out of here with everything before we realize what hit us."

"Water flows over its enemies with patience and serenity," Cye said with a gleam in his eye, arranging his cards and pushing some poker chips into the center of the table.

"Bite me, Mouri," Rowen said good-naturedly, uping the ante. "And I'm surprised that Ami let you off your leash for the whole evening."

Rowen never could pass by the chance to tease Cye about his young wife, and Cye accepted the teasing with dignity. It didn't hurt that Cye was ridiculously in love with her, and knew that he skipped to her tune. Ami had given Cye everything he had wanted: a home and a beautiful daughter and another on the way. Rowen wasn't being mean. Cye knew Rowen liked her too.

"Shuddup, Rowen," Kento stood up for Cye, taking a long swig of his beer. "Ami's due any day now. If it were you, you'd be a homebody too."

"Not my problem, dear friends. Rowen Hashiba, bachelor for life," Rowen said cockily, grinning as he stretched his arms above his head.

"You don't know what you're missing," Cye told Rowen with a tiny smile.

"Nope. And I don't plan on knowing what I'm missing," Rowen declared. "Royal flush, by the way."

The whole table groaned.

"Okay, I'm done," Sage said grumpily, throwing down his cards. "Just divide my belongings amongst the three of you."

There was silence after the comment, only the soft noises of cards shuffling and Rowen finishing his own beer. But instead of getting up and leaving, Sage remained where he was sitting, glaring at the table with unusual hostility. Finally Kento cleared his throat.

"You doing okay, Sage?" Kento asked mildly, the cards clicking as they flipped down in his large hands. The blonde man was usually quiet and reserved, but beneath that exterior was a smile and a sense of humor just waiting to come out when he was with his friends. Disdain and aloofness was normal Sage, but pissy angry was not.

Sage grunted in reply to Kento's question, playing with the label on his bottle. Kento and Rowen shared a knowing look, but not a happy one. They had both seen Mia lately, and she had that _look_. It had never bothered them before, but then again, she had never dated one of their friends before either.

"How's Mia been?" Cye suddenly asked, under the pretense of small talk. "I haven't seen much of her lately."

"Busy," Sage said shortly. "She works too hard."

"Mia always was the only one who could outlast me on research nights," Rowen acknowledged, but Sage was shaking his head.

"She's not working too much, she's working too _hard_. It's getting to her but she refuses to admit it."

"Is she okay?" Kento asked worriedly. "Now that you mention it, the last time I saw her she was looking kind of drained."

"She doesn't sleep anymore." Sage looked decidedly unhappy about it. "When she does, it's…rough."

"How rough?" Rowen pressed, eyes narrowing.

"Nightmares. Lots of them. She won't say a word about what happens in them, but they send her flying off the bed in a panic. Last night she hit the nightstand and cut her forehead before she even woke up," Sage told them, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "They're just getting worse, and the more I try to be there for her, the more she pretends nothing's wrong. Then she goes back to work without any sleep, trying to function like normal. She needs to stop for once and just…stop."

"Sage," Cye said gently, touching his friends shoulder. "This is Mia we're talking about. She's never just stopped, no matter what. She's the strongest person I know."

"She's too strong," Sage exhaled angrily. "Too stubborn. She's hurting herself."

"And you can't stop it and it's making you crazy because you're a control freak," Kento said point blank. Sage blinked then looked away, flushing. "Come on man, it's not a big surprise. Her independent streak is what you always said you liked about her. If Mia had run to us every time something tough happened, it would have driven you nuts."

"She…she's acting weird Kento. Mia isn't herself!" Sage finally snapped. They all looked at him, watching the blonde man fight to control his temper. It rarely flared up, but when it did, Sage could carry on as bad as Ryo. Sage struggled with himself and won, forcing his handsome features smooth. "I apologize. I haven't been getting any sleep either because of this."

Rowen's eyebrow rose in interest. "Really? That's a new development. When did this happen?"

"My personal life is my own business, Rowen," Sage said firmly, to which Rowen only laughed.

"Mia's my friend too," Rowen reminded Sage. "I've beaten up more of her ex dirt-bag boyfriends than you. I think we all have a right to be interested in what's happening with her, even if what's happening is you. You're already spending the night? That's pretty fast."

"Says a man who ends most of his relationships by the morning after," Sage said with a smirk. Rowen grinned.

"Short and sweet. It keeps the ladies wanting more. And don't change the subject, Sage. It's only been a few months. That's fast for both of you."

Cye leaned in, munching on a potato chip thoughtfully. "You know, when Ami and I first got married, it was really hard for her to get used to living with someone. She would get so incredibly embarrassed if she snored or drooled on the pillow when she slept. Is it possible that Mia's just embarrassed? Nightmares aren't something that you can control, but still...it can't make her feel good about herself."

"Maybe…" Sage didn't seem too convinced. There was something in his violet eyes that said he wasn't saying everything.

"You're worried about something else about Mia," a serious voice spoke from the living room. Ryo had woken up and was now perched on the back of the couch, having caught the last parts of the conversation. "Something more important."

Sage looked at Ryo, his concern fully reflecting in his face. He nodded, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah," Sage admitted. Kento looked confused.

"What do you mean…?" he started, then his eyes widened. "You mean something having to do with the armors and everything before? Sage! If you were thinking something like that then why the hell did you let her out of your sight?" Kento was incensed.

"She's safe, Kento," Sage told him flatly. "She's at work late and I'm meeting her at home. What am I supposed to do, force her to stay at my side? Based on an unfounded fear that maybe just maybe I'm missing something?"

"Why are we just hearing about this?" Kento countered. Sage glared at him tiredly.

"Because it's taken a while for me to realize that something was wrong. Kento, she's just having nightmares, okay? That's all. Everything else is fine."

"Kento, ease up," Ryo said in a quietly authoritative voice. "As hard as it might be to believe, Sage is more protective of his girlfriend than you are."

Kento flushed and looked down. Cye coughed uncomfortably in the silence that followed. Finally Sage shook his head.

"Listen, I'm sorry to have concerned you guys. I just…I just wish that she'd tell me what's wrong. And I just want her to be okay," he added quietly. Ryo walked into the room and gave Sage a reassuring look.

"Do you need anything from us?" he asked. "If you're worried that there's something nearby that's causing the nightmares, we can hang outside the manor and keep an eye on things. If something's there, we should be able to feel it."

Sage weighed the offer in his mind. It was at that moment that a large white tiger decided to pad into the room, a huge yawn opening his jaws as he paused and stretched. White Blaze blinked several times then moved with unerring instinct to Halo's side, resting his massive head on the blonde's lap. A small smile touched Sage's lips as he stroked the tiger's soft fur.

"Ryo, do you think I can borrow White Blaze for a few days?"

"Yeah, no problem. You still need us to patrol?"

Sage shook his head, lost in thought. "No," he murmured absently. "If something's really wrong, Blaze will know. And maybe all Mia really needs is something big and furry to help her sleep well."

It took Sage a moment to realize the room had gone silent and the guys at the table were all staring at him. Rowen and Kento were barely stifling laughter, and Cye looked scandalized. Ryo seemed oblivious.

"Oh not like that," Sage groaned. "You know what I meant!"

"Sure, Sage," Rowen chortled, "Sure you did."

"That was so wrong…" Cye murmured.

"I don't know what's so funny," Ryo said over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen. "I always like sleeping with something big and furry."

The tiger closed his eyes blissfully, enjoying the attention from the tall one, and not caring in the least that the humans around him were all collapsing with laughter that his own human just didn't understand.

* * *

The rain poured down outside, the singing of little droplets hitting the water of the lake disappearing beneath the crescendo of heavy sheets. It was a perfect day to stay right where you were, and that's exactly what Sage and Mia were doing. The redhead had never gotten out of her pajamas and Sage still hadn't bothered to go in search of a shirt. Instead they lay curled up on the couch, her reading with her head pillowed on his arm. Sage had his eyes closed, listening to the world outside even as he relished that fact that he was safe and warm in here. Even years later, Halo hadn't forgotten the chill of cold in his bones, or the sting of unrelenting weather in his face. A part of him would always be that fifteen year old boy, wet and miserable and scared out of his mind, but never letting anyone else see that. It had been so long since Sage had felt true fear about something, he almost didn't remember how it felt. But he knew that he had been scared, and he knew everything that accompanied those fears. He'd never forget those times, not fully.

A cold wet nose touched Sage's arm and the blonde man was pulled out of his thoughts. Huge blue eyes stared at him with interest. Sage smiled slightly and disentangled one of his arms away from the girl he held, reaching out to scratch behind White Blaze's furry ears.

"Sorry you have to stay inside today, big guy," Sage told him apologetically. Mia chuckled and shifted against Sage, stretching languidly.

"He doesn't mind, do you Blaze?" Mia said sweetly, also petting the tiger. White Blaze's eyes closed happily at the double attention. "He only goes out into the rain when he has to."

"Kind of like us?" Sage rumbled in Mia's ear, making her giggle at the vibrations. Encouraged, Sage nipped at her earlobe, enjoying how he was making Mia squirm.

"Sage!" Mia laughed, trying to escape but getting caught up in his arms instead. Sage neatly flipped her over so that she was straddling him, her long red hair cascading over his face and chest. He ran a finger over her cheek lightly, cupping her chin as he tugged her down to kiss him. It was a light sweet kiss, but it grew into something more ardent. Sage had his hands buried in her hair and was fully concentrating with what he was doing when a soft breathe of warm air touched his arm. Momentarily startled, Sage broke off the kiss and turned his head. White Blaze's huge face was only inches from his own, watching the two humans curiously.

"The tiger's staring at us," Sage murmured, a little unsettled.

"Ignore him," Mia advised, trailing kisses down his chest.

"Mia…is this really all that appropriate?" he wondered, fighting off an odd sense of embarrassment that anyone would be watching him in this sort of situation. But his girlfriend just laughed and moved to kiss his abdominal muscles. Sage failed to stifle a soft groan, then rolled his eyes as the tiger leaned into the couch, chin resting on the cushions next to Sage's elbow. Big blue eyes looked at Sage wistfully, obviously missing the attention.

"White Blaze…go away boy," Sage murmured, voice catching as Mia's hands moved over his hip bones. The tiger rumbled and moved in closer, much to Mia's amusement.

"I think you like having an audience," Sage accused her, words heavy in his mouth.

"Sage?"

"Hmmm?"

"Be quiet and pet the tiger, dear. Now he's looking at me too."

Sage laughed out loud this time, loving that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind to him when they were alone. So he did what he was told, one hand reaching over to scratch ears and one gripping the arm of the couch. White Blaze closed his eyes blissfully, and very soon Sage did the same thing.

* * *

Sage came awake instantly, something in the back of his mind triggering a warning. He was still on the couch, with Mia tucked in close to his chest fast asleep. It was the most peaceful she had looked in weeks. He was loathe to move, afraid that it would wake her, but something told him that he needed to get up. The rain still pounded down heavily, causing a low rumble to echo through the darkened manor. The natural sunlight was hidden by thick storm clouds, casting long shadows across the floor. Sage carefully disentangled himself from the woman in his arms, easing himself over her to the outside of the couch. She made a soft sleepy noise but didn't wake. Sage tugged a blanket off the back of the couch and settled it over her gently before leaving her. It was only then that he realized it wasn't the rain that was rumbling.

Sage turned and looked across the room, beyond where he and Mia had lain sleeping. There was a wide bay window on the far wall, thick with cushions that Mia never let any of them sleep with, her good cushions. Half of them now littered the floor, pushed aside by the huge tiger that sat in the window staring intently outside. He was growling softly deep in his throat. It was a growl that Halo well remembered.

The blonde man padded to the window, moving next to the tiger that had been standing guard over them as they slept. Sage placed his hand against Blaze's muscled shoulder, the motion asking for silence from the animal. White Blaze stopped growling, but his eyes remained intent on the dreary landscape that stretched outside. Tint rivers of water blurred the window, and Sage stepped closer, leaning in so that he could see better. Blaze's nose almost touched the window. A shiver ran down Sage's spine, the source unknown, and he reached instinctively for the orb that always hung around his neck. His hand closed around empty air. That's right. His orb was upstairs, hidden in a box in the closet. He hadn't worn it in years, and didn't know how he could have forgotten that. Or why he would have felt the need for it. On the couch behind him Mia made a low plaintive noise and shifted beneath the blanket. Forcing down the desire to either go to her or to dash upstairs for his armor orb, Sage continued to watch the darkness. White Blaze had unconsciously started growling again, and the tip of his tail twitched by Sage's foot.

Suddenly Sage felt very very cold.

Simultaneously White Blaze let out a guttural roar and spun, leaping off the bay window into the middle of the room with one mighty jump. He bounded towards the opposite wall, where there was an opening to the balcony. They must have left it unlocked because the tiger, having learned years ago, swiped at the flat handle with one paw and shouldered through the door. Instantly the roar of the wind and rain filled the room, water stinging Sage's eyes as he dashed after White Blaze.

"What…Sage?" Mia's groggily startled voice was lost in the storm the instant he stepped outside. Following the tiger, Sage took a running leap, landing barefooted on the landing. They were a story off the ground but Halo never even thought about that as he jumped down into the driveway, nor did he pay attention to the gravel cutting his feet. A flash of white was darting towards the tree line, and Sage plunged after.

"Sage!" Mia cried again as she watched her boyfriend disappear over the railing. Tripping over the blanket that had somehow become wrapped around her legs, Mia ran to the balcony. The wind whipped her hair into her face, obscuring her vision. She shoved it away, only to realize that she couldn't see where Sage and Blaze had disappeared to. Scared, she turned to run back inside the house. That's when the lights went off.

* * *

It was a very wet and bedraggled Ronin that finally returned to the manor, an equally drenched tiger at his side, restless and empty handed. It took Sage a minute to realize that there was no power. It took him only a minute more to realize that Mia was gone.

* * *

There was a moment that had never left Mia's memory, etched into her mind and her soul with a clarity that would never dull even with time. A single breath in which she looked up and met violet eyes and she _knew_. With a certainty beyond understanding she knew that what she was about to do was more important than anything else she would ever do in her life. A small thing. Distract the bad guy long enough for the good guy to win. A tiny action in a time that was filled with great and selfless deeds by better ones than herself. But had she not done that one small thing, they would not have won. As if his wise eyes had known this from the start, he let her do something so woefully beyond her abilities. He had trusted her, even though he had hated the idea. That was what she would always remember: the trust and the resignation in his eyes.

The memory of that trust had given Mia more strength in her life than anything else. Like she knew that after that, she could get through anything. But the source of that trust had taken years to finally get her to drop her guard and let him in. The source of that trust frightened her more than he would ever know. Probably because she was so much in love with him.

* * *

"Sage, you have got to calm down."

"She's out there, Ryo! Something has her and we should be out there searching for her right now!"

"Sage, she took her car. She would have called us if something was chasing her."

"I'm telling you that something was out there!"

"And I'm telling you to calm down. You're no help to anyone like this. Detach yourself from the situation the way you normally do and think about it. Where would she have gone after seeing you take off?"

"Either than to one of you guys? I don't know. She wouldn't have. That's the point. Mia doesn't just bail like that. She doesn't even realize she should take off when it would keep her safe. Something must have taken her."

"In her car." His tone was dubious. "After obviously packing a suitcase."

"Don't treat me like I'm a fool," Sage growled, violet eyes flashing dangerously. "Do I ever jump the gun? Do I ever assume the worst?"

Sage caught the look passed between Cye and Rowen, and when glared at Cye coughed uncomfortably.

"Listen, it's not that we don't worry about her too," Rowen told him, running a hand through his hair nervously. "But when it comes to Mia…yeah, you kind of take it too far."

The blonde man was incensed as he stared at his comrades in disbelief.

"You're telling me that you won't help me find her," he snarled flatly. Cye shook his head quickly.

"No, it's not like that, Sage. We just want you to stop and think…"

"I'm done thinking," Sage said coldly, turning and striding for the door, the tiger still in tow.

As the door slammed shut behind him, Kento let out an explosive breath.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hardrock asked sourly. Cye rubbed his face wearily.

"If she left him, she chose a really horrible way to do it," Cye murmured. Rowen slumped down in a chair, looking unhappy.

"Does anyone want to be the one to say that to him?"

"You think he doesn't know?" Ryo wondered softly.

"I don't know." Rowen shrugged. "Maybe."

"He knows her," Ryo disagreed. "Better than the rest of us. And we all know the look she gets before she bolts. He has to see it."

Cye walked to the window, sadly watching Sage peel out of the drive in his car.

"Maybe he just doesn't want to."

* * *

It wasn't the armor that helped find her. Nor was it the mystical tiger with the eerie knack for knowing where people were. No, it was a middle aged highway patrolman who found an old Jeep parked off the side of the road, seemingly abandoned until he noticed the girl curled up in the driver's seat, sound asleep. He knocked on the window and it startled her into wakefulness. He motioned for her to roll down the window, which she did, her face confused and her motions jerky.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?"

"Yeah…yeah I think so. I must have fallen asleep when I pulled over," she mumbled, providing him with the ID he requested.

"Is there a reason you're all the way out here all by yourself?" he asked her, carefully watching the redhead for signs of inebriation or intoxication of other sorts. "It's not safe to be sleeping off the road, especially not alone."

"I'm sorry…" the woman replied, looking around worriedly. "I'm not even sure how I got out here. I don't even know where here is."

It was probably the wrong thing to say, because here was almost fifty miles away from her home. The comment was immediately followed by her receiving a breathalyzer test and a grilling of her previous evening's activities. The last thing that she recalled was being at home with her boyfriend, taking a nap on the couch. The redhead passed the breathalyzer but was starting to look a bit frightened. The patrolman asked if there was anyone she wanted to call. There was. It took him three rings to pick up. The relief in his voice was palpable. When she hung up, the redhead burst into tears.

* * *

We were born in a world that promotes peace and understanding, a world of mitigation and passive conflict resolution. We slaughtered thousands to protect this world. Is it any wonder that we never feel like we quite belong?

* * *

Mia sat with her head down, knees pulled up to her chest as Sage drove her back home to the manor. To his credit he did not lecture her about the lack of seatbelt, nor did he grill her about how she ended up so far from home without any recollection of how she got there. The gravel crunched under the tires as he pulled into the drive. Mia heard the driver's side door shut, then after a small pause, the passenger side door opened. Trying to shake the fuzziness from her mind, Mia gracelessly climbed out of the car. She never protested when strong arms wrapped around her supportively, then scooped her up. He had never carried her before, at least not without her legs around his waist and their bodies on fire. She was tall but Sage easily cradled her close as he entered the manor, heading straight upstairs towards her bedroom. When he laid her down, he did so carefully, making sure her head came down gently on the pillows.

"Do you need anything?" Sage asked her quietly. Mia just shook her head no. Sage nodded and made sure to tuck a blanket around her shoulders before he straightened.

"Do you want me to stay?" Again Mia shook her head no before closing her eyes tight. Sage walked towards the door, hoping with each step that she would change her mind. Wanting her to call his name and ask him to come back and be with her. But the words never came and he never did like staying where he wasn't needed. He did however make sure to slip the tiger into her room as she was sleeping, insurance of her protection before he left the manor.

The sun was setting, casting a reddish hue to the rippling water of the lake as Sage walked down to the pier. Red and flowing. _Like blood_, Sage thought darkly. Then he blinked, startled at his own morbid thoughts. A shiver of chill went through him and he folded his arms across his chest. A defensive stance that he hadn't adopted in years. There was something out here. He could feel it down in his bones. Every instinct he had was telling him that something somewhere wasn't right. And as the final light slipped away, and the world was plunged into a darkness that was too deep, Sage remembered what it felt like to be scared of the unknown.


End file.
